I’m loving this article from Wired Magazine:  Making Geeks Cool Could Reform Education At a conference on school reform in the digital age, amongst entrepreneurs and educators selling the next big thing in education – video games, youth blogs, the ubiquitous Twitter – one educator broke it down:  it’s all about school culture.

“The best schools,” Grodd told me, “are able to make learning cool, so the cool kids are the ones who get As. That’s an art.”

The article goes on to detail “geek culture” at two schools that serve low-income urban youth and have succeeded in pushing their students to excel, and celebrate learning. The Wired-reading geek in me – yep, the one who did a few SAT vocabulary questions this morning for funsies – is envisioning the day in which schools instill deep-seated nerdery in today’s youth, ushering in that bright promised future when the geek shall inherit the earth. More than that, the Aim High lovin’ educator in me is glad to see the discussion – even if it’s a discussion in Wired Magazine, well off the beaten path for ed gurus – turning to reforming school culture.  Over the past 24 years, Aim High culture (better known as Aim High Magic) is what grads and teachers consistently cite as life-changing.  Schools need to be places where it is safe to geek out, admired to explore your genius, and – huzzah! – cool to be smart.